Purest Green
by m1blue
Summary: Forget those angsty, tear ridden tales of romance! Here is how two perfectly mature demons deal with declarations of love. HxK; formerly The Untold Story
1. Chapter 1

A/N: You probably thought I had abandoned this, but fear not! It just took me a really, really long time to revise it. I even have a beta reader who's helping me. Hypothetically, this should have about fifteen short chapters. (See? Not forgotten and even planned out!)

* * *

"Hiei?"

"Hm?" The daemon in question regarded Kurama's reflection in the window he had taken to occupying in his spare time.

"I think I love you," Kurama stated offhandedly from the comfort of his rolling chair.

Hiei didn't respond and had yet to look at him. Even with the silence, his tension made it perfectly clear that he not only heard but comprehended what Kurama had said. This placed him in an awkward position -- something Hiei wasn't particularly fond of -- and he got the feeling that Kurama expected an answer. He had several options: replying, ignoring, or fleeing like the felon he was.

"You sure?" he asked tentatively of the reflection.

Kurama paused only a considerate moment. "Fairly."

"That doesn't sound positively sure." Declarations of love weren't common things for him, and Hiei in general had more than enough issues without this.

The chair squeaked as Kurama rocked slowly back and forth. He seemed unaware of the discomfort the squeaking caused Hiei, but in actuality was quite aware as he tried to be with most things. That tiny sadistic bit of him couldn't help but enjoy Hiei's silent suffering.

And then Kurama stopped. "I'm sure."

_Squeak. Squeak._

"I've finished," Kurama assured him, allowing the abrupt change of topic for now. "Now I want to talk to you."

Hiei risked a glance at Kurama, suspicion hovering in his gaze. "Then talk." Even Kurama couldn't push him to well-and-truly converse.

Kurama sighed thoughtfully. He had pondered long and hard about this, and knew Hiei would refuse to cooperate. Love wasn't something he tossed around lightly, despite some rumours. Even in his years as a full-blooded, fully-alive daemon Kurama had refrained from such declarations made casually. Kuronue was the only other romantic love he'd had. It was probably far less for Hiei thanks to his rather tragic youth.

He told as much to Hiei. Hiei, predictably, wasn't swayed. "Do you expect _me_ to make declarations of undying devotion?" he asked. "Your sentimentality is disgusting."

_Squeak. Squeak._

"No, not really. I figured we would build up to that. Start slow so as not to wound your delicate ego." He wasn't fond of anything of his being called disgusting, even his sentimentality. If Hiei didn't want gentle, he wouldn't get it.

"Not used to being rejected, huh?" Hiei said, finally turning to face Kurama completely.

"I have yet to hear you reject me, Hiei."

"Can you not hear? I won't make declarations of undying devotion." This seemed the end of the discussion so far as Hiei was concerned.

He was also concerned about the enigmatic and entirely too pleased smile that had found its home on Kurama's lips.

_Squeak. Squeak._


	2. Chapter 2

As I have said in my profile: this probably isn't up to the standards of my readers/reviewers. If you really, really don't like it though, I have two or three other versions that I could toss up for concrit. Just give me an aye or nay if it's not matching the summary. Oh! And before I forget -- if I forgot to reply to anyone, just say so and I'll do it this time around. . . . I think.

God, this is getting long, but: also, this will have a plot (or an attempt at one) besides their romance. Chapter one is a prologue of sorts, so the style's different. I actually had that planned if this did become chaptered. Nothing else was planned, though. I actually wrote this today.

* * *

With that confession out of the way, though he still didn't know Hiei's standing on it -- unless one counted him fleeing through the window his standing, which Kurama didn't -- Kurama now felt that the only thing left to do was wait. He imaged it would be a long wait, given Hiei's tendencies to take his sweet time with things, like his own confession to Yukina, but he was up to the challenge. Besides, now he could focus on school-work, in which he was sadly behind, despite what he had told Hiei.

He made his way mechanically through three worksheets and an essay before fate intervened. One can image Kurama's surprise when he found Hiei back in his window, straddling the sill in a very awkward fashion.

"Would you like to come all the way in, Hiei?" he asked, hiding a smile none too subtly behind his hand. "Or all the way out?"

"Neither," he grumbled, clinging to the window.

"Well, then, what brings you back here only --" Kurama glanced at the wall clock. "Only five hours after leaving so suddenly?"

Hiei rocked on the sill, switching to a more comfortable position, still neither in nor out. "Did you mean it?"

"Yes, Hiei. I wouldn't toy with you," he replied in all seriousness. "Not with something like this," he added thoughtfully, and thereby killing all the examples that Hiei was in the process of bringing to light.

Hiei had acquired his contemplative look once his half-formed objection had been shot down unceremoniously, and Kurama feared that he _was_ going to fall out of the window. "If you're still thinking about it, please come in and make yourself comfortable. The night's rather chilly, and I don't want to be patching you up when you fall into Mother's roses."

Hiei snorted. "As if a few thorns could hurt me," he sniffed, but moved all the way into the room, closing the window behind him.

"Of course not. Just remember that they are my thorns."

They easily fell into silence, and Kurama's intentions weren't questioned again. He could feel Hiei's eyes on him, though, as he squeaked back and forth in his chair, working on the math portion of his work.

"I thought you were done," Hiei observed.

"I lied."

Hiei migrated to the bed, rolling over onto his side and situating the pillow. After several moments, he turned onto his back. Knowing that he wasn't going to take the initiative, Kurama twisted to face him. "Why did you come back?"

"I had an unfortunate encounter with Boton."

"Oh? Does Koenma need us? If he wants me to file again, I shall be quite irate." Kurama wrinkled his nose to emphasis the point. Given Hiei's and his positions, namely fulfilling the obligations of their paroles, they had quite a few more assignments than Yuusuke and Kuwabara. These assignments weren't all hack-and-slash, of course, and consisted mainly of menial tasks, such as filing, and small-time busts in which a ferry-girl made the actual arrests. Kurama wished that he was fortunate to get the latter, but alas, that was Hiei's job for the most part.

Hiei sat up, looking smug suddenly. The demon seemed far too happy -- rather, happy, period, and that made the kitsune's brow furrow. "It's a mission," he began, then stopped. Seeing Kurama frown further at such a vague reply, he continued. "It's not a very large one," he said, "but it requires the both of us."

"Is that why you're happy? Because we'll be working together?" Kurama asked blatantly.

"Because I'm allowed to kill it."

"And what is 'it', pray tell?" Hiei shrugged. "I might just kill it -- whatever that may be -- to spite you," Kurama muttered.

"Koenma's withholding information, again," Hiei offered in his defense.

Kurama looked forlornly at his work, still incomplete and innocuous on his desk. "It can't take too long, can it?" he asked rhetorically.

"It's not a tournament, and it's not world-threatening," Hiei pointed out.

The kitsune creaked his chair one final time before standing. "When are we to do this?"

"Tomorrow -- it's Sunday." Kurama stopped mid-stretch to let out a relieved exclamation. He had forgotten, as Hiei probably guessed.

"Will you be staying the night?"

"No," Hiei said with a hint of derision, then stood from the rumpled bedding and took his departure, leaving the window open.

"Good night," Kurama said to the empty branch nearby before closing the window and blinds and preparing for bed.


End file.
